Chelsea march on to the Round of 16 of the Club World Cup after a 0-3 victory over Espérance Sportive de Tunis.
The blues had to endure scorching hot weather and a record breaking day in Philadelphia since 1994!
Benfica awaits for Chelsea in the Round of 16 on Saturday evening.
Filip Jorgensen – 6.5
Not much to do for our number 2, a cool and composed pass out of the back from the attacking press but other than that didn’t need to do much
Malo Gusto – 5
Different role today as Gusto was inverted into midfield. His tackling slightly improved from the last game and was a bit quicker in his 50/50 duels.
He made a couple of recovery challenges to maintain pressure and to stop a few counter attacks, Although, his final ball passing was still quite poor.
Tosin – 7.5
A solid header to put us 1-0 up late in the first half to ease some pressure! Kept things ticking and won most of his aerial duels to nullify threat.
This man is definitely going under the radar to becoming an integral part of our squad
Benoit Badiashile – 6
A couple of rash/mistimed challenges giving the opposition a chance to attack our box.
Ground duels gradually got better as the game went on and killed off any threat from counters.
Josh Acheampong – 6
Quite a sloppy start by losing the ball and being caught out positionally within the first 10 minutes. But massively grew into the 1st half with confidence, bright future ahead for Josh!
Romeo Lavia – 6.5
Very solid midfield performance so far and moved the ball quickly from defence to attack.
Very strong in battling for ground duels. Great to see his minutes still being monitored
Enzo Fernandez- 8 MOTM👏
Two assists for our number 8! A great ball into the box for Tosins goal and a lovely chipped pass to help our number nine bag his first goal!
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall- 4
Unfortunately looked a bit uncomfortable playing on the right wing, a few poor set pieces into the box.
However, showed good work rate and was energetic tracking his runners
Christopher Nkunku- 2.5
Another chance spurned in the number 10 position unfortunately.
Very inactive in the first half, did not have any impact in the game at all.
Noni Madueke- 3.5
A few good runs down the touchline but the final ball was lacking most of the time.
Had one shot in the second half but other than that, quiet day for noni.
Liam Delap- 7.5
He’s off the mark! A great take into his stride and a lovely skill to take the ball away from the defender and a proper strikers finish into the bottom corner.
His movement off the ball and runs into the channels helped other attackers come into the game and his physical presence will be a problem for the foreseeable future for Premier League defenders.
Subs:
Marc Guiu- N/A
Few good runs made and had a good chance to make it 0-3 but failed to capitalise.
Dario Essugo – 6
Had a decent game, looks comfortable on the ball despite people saying otherwise. Physical presence.
Tyrique George- 5.5
Keeper at fault for his goal but still good to see him showing confidence to shoot. Always looks a threat 1v1 when coming off the bench.
Andrey Santos – 5.5
Lost the ball a few times trying to find the rhythm and the pace of the game.
Quite unlucky to not win a penalty after a terrible VAR/refereeing decision and had a nice tackle and build up for the George goal, where he got the assist.
Mamadou Sarr – N/A
Enzo Maresca- 6.5
Very brave to put out a lineup including the likes of Nkunku playing as a number 10 and Dewsbury-Hall on the right wing, especially in a must win game.
Looks like it paid off overall with the gaffer sending us to the last 16 of the Club World Cup.
Also was quite intriguing to see the occasional positional interchange with Enzo Fernandez which we saw a few times towards the end of last season on the right midfield with Enzo and Gusto.
Substitutes were made at the right time and great to see Maresca use Santos which is something us fans have been shouting out for.
Onto the Round of 16, UTC!
